H3A3H3

I'm finding that a growing number of Starwood Hotels have relegated responding to TripAdvisor reviews to "correspondence clerks" sitting in a room somewhere - - nowhere near the property - - and all that they write is "fluff." According to a GM that I talked with, his hotel pays a fee to Starwood/Marriott, and included in that fee, is this "correspondence clerk" response writing service for TripAdvisor reviews. What a shame, as the "correspondence clerk" has no knowledge of the property, the employees, the issues; they simply write "fluff," and make it appear as though the property has responded to a TripAdvisor review.

To Starwood/Marriott: A savvy consumer can see right through your "fluff (words that lack substance)."

forumpersona999

It is up to the property to opt into this service. It is no coincidence that one of the things some of my favorite properties do is to have the HM or GM or at least their assistant go into these reviews and personally address them. The hotels who pay to outsource some copy/paste "response" are usually properties that will not do well overall.

paolo64

Quite recently I completed a post-stay survey(notSPG) in which I made some observations/criticism about a couple of aspects of the experience ( in a 99% positive commentary). I was surprised to get an email from the GM (presumably prepared by someone in his office) thanking me for the positives but noting my dislike of June Jacobs products and an assurance that my file had been amended to make sure that a different brand of toiletries would be in my room for future stays ( and that an offensive flashing blue light iphone dock would be unplugged).
I thought this very impressive and professional cf the silly...really worse than nothing....canned responses on review sites, including SPG app ( " We're sorry we failed to meet your expectations, please reach out to us in advance should you give us another chance", blah, blah)

EuropeanPete

I think the reaction to these canned surveys tells you a lot about a hotel. I've been in $500+ night hotels where I've pointed out something damning and been ignored, whereas other hotels at the full range of price points you can get an email from the GM either noting an issue or thanking you for a specific comment. I get the impression this might be especially the case for SPG Platinum members as it's inevitably mentioned, but I'm not sure.

One of the most impressive has to be the Sheraton Oman whose GM replied to me after a very complimentary survey review about service and also the suite I was in to give me some background on the suite designer and context and to ask that I contact him on my next stay so that I could try some of the other suite formats. Great service doesn't have to cost a lot of money.

Bravada04

So true! If only so many could understand that.

Aventine

I find any form of media response is going to be generic and fluffy. The best GMs will listen and write back. The worse GMs and properties will delegate it to FOM or duty manager. Being ignored by a property is a real good reason to go nuclear on them.

RogerD408

What's even worse when the people responding to reviews are hired contractors to attempt to build the property's image and not even interested in dealing with issues in the first place! It's about as close as posting: we don't care what you think but want people to think we do. As with all problem resolution situations finding someone that has the willingness to listen to the problem and the ability to address the problem can be very tough.

TripAdvisor has a requirement that a review must be from someone's personal experience and they are not related to the business. Maybe responders need to certify they are directly tied to the business and not a hired PR function.

Remember back when you called to voice a concern about a product and they actually listened and worked to resolve the issue? Today it's just excuses why they failed and to go away.

BearX220

But as a certain percentage of TA reviews are ridiculous -- inexperienced or tyrannical travelers raging about trivia, imaginary slights, or acts of God the property could not have controlled -- it is understandable that a property would post pro forma, ridiculous responses.

H3A3H3

I just read the latest "Marriott Correspondence Clerk's" response to a review of mine on TripAdvisor.com. I can't believe that Marriott is not embarrassed by the ridiculousness of these "Marriott Correspondence Clerk's" writings; they write: all fluff, no substance, rhetoric, and have not a clue about the operations, employees, or the issues at the hotels that they allegedly represent.

Dr. HFH

Which property?

Kacee

That would be Hyatt (June Jacobs), and I assume the OP is a Diamond/Globalist. I got quite a few personal responses to my survey comments as a Diamond. One of the things that Hyatt does well. (Others, not so much.)

paolo64

Yes, GH Bangkok . I don't seem to get much response from SPG properties, with a couple of exceptions ( in fact , haven't had any surveys at all for quite a while).

H3A3H3

There's a real sign of the demise of Starwood. You don't know what you don't ask. If you wait for complaints to surface, you've waited too long, and you created a situation that could have and should have been mitigated.

I wonder, could it be that because Marriott International now has a monopoly of hotels, that they've reached the point that they don't care?

I worked for a company that vigorously encouraged their rank and file staffmembers to identify and report "defects (or "opportunities")," the thinking was that the rank and file staffmembers were on the front line, and had their fingers on the pulse, and as a result, were in an ideal position to identify issues, and then escalate them to people who recorded those issues, and fixed them. In fact, the Corporate Headquarters for that company established quotas for each business unit, for the number of defects that were reported each month (by rank and file employees). Again, the thnking was, if you don' know about a problem, you can't fix it, and prevent a customer from brushing up against that problem in the future.

I too have noticed that I've not been receiving surveys following Starwood hotel stays. I interpret that as a cost savings measure, or an arrogance about listening to what guests have to say (or caring about what guests have to say).

controller1

I received a survey last week for a stay the previous week. First survey I have received in three months.

pWei

GH BKK was my guess as well. I unplugged the flashing bluetooth dongle in my bedroom myself. Honestly I found their JJ to be worse than other JJ I experienced. Very drying, and left my hair itchy after the first wash. KL was the best, though usually no issues. Not sure why. I do like the alternative they offered.

I've frequently had hotels respond to my critiques - a recent response from a F&B director said they'd be sitting down to review the menu with the exec chefs in response to my comments. To me, that would encourage me to go back and try again.